"GET BACK HERE WITH THAT!" Louie yelled chasing his dog, Mira, who had stolen his hamburger. Now they were running around the table, either one not willing to give up to the
other.
"Louie, shut the hell up already. Mira's a dog, you can't expect her to act like a human" Anika tried reasoning with him but he just shrieked and stomped out of the kitchen labeling her as a lousy good-for-nothing sister, an idiot and several other not so pleasant things.Whatever Anika shook her head and continued eating her breakfast.
"Hurry up honey, the bus will be here any minute" Anika heard her mother calling and got up from the table. The bookbag was already waiting in the hallway as Anika passed it and grabbed it on her way to go to the busstop when the schoolbus would pick her up any minute to drive her safely to school. Louie had given up on retrieving his burger and now was throwing books in his schoolbag and yelling about his mathbook being missing. As Anika almost exited the house she noticed the infamous mathbook under the cupboard. She sighed and picked it up and threw it at her little brother who was startled by the impact and was almost going to yell at Anika but he dropped the idea when he saw the object he had been thrown with. Gratefully he placed the book in his bag and they sprinted out of the door not to miss the bus.
Just as Anika and Louie entered the schoolhouse, the bell rang, indicating that they were just in time to get to their classes - math for Louie and literature for Anika. But just before running to class Anika pulled her brother close to her for a second.
"Don't even think about skipping any classes today" she hissed with her teeth tightly pressed together. "I will find out if you do,but it won't be me giving you hard time afterwards - mom will be doing that."
Louie looked up with his eyes wide in shock. "You wouldn't!" he gasped but the look in his sister's eyes convinced him of otherwise and he gulped. "You really wouldn't tell mom about a few skipped classes, would you?"
"A couple? More like couple dozen" Anika hissed again. "Remember my words" she let go of Louie and quickly rushed towards her literature class. Louie shrugged and headed towards his math class, muttering about Anika being the cruellest sister ever and wishing he'd have a brother instead. In reality he wouldn't have even dared to think such thoughts at Anika's presence but since she wasn't there, he felt less scared.
Anika stepped into the class and went to her seat. The teacher hadn't arrived yet and everyone were talking. As Anika was searching for the pen, somebody sat on her table and she looked up to see Melissa, one of classmates, staring down at her. "Yes?" Anika asked the other girl as she found her pen and stared bact at the other.
"Good morning to you too" Melissa grinned. "Your brother being a little prick again? Figures. There's nothing 'better' than having a little brother pissing you off to start a day" she laughed and Anika giggled along. "Alright, back to serious business - did you hear the news? It seems we'll be having fresh meat soon."
"Fresh meat? What do you mean?" Anika raised an eyebrow. "Aah, you mean we're having new people in the class soon?"
"That's what I said, girlfriend" Melissa nodded. "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl" she pondered when the teacher stepped inside the class, throwing his jacket on his chair and turning his attention to the class.
"Alright, let's get started. Melissa, if you're not a flowerpot or a textbook, would you be so kind and please get off Anika's table so that we could start the class?" he suggested and Anika puffed when Melissa got off the table, sending the teacher her flirty looks. "Thank you, miss Cramer" the teacher nodded. "Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, mr. McKenzie" the class greeted him in unison and sat down, flipping open their textbooks to where they had left off in the last lesson.
"Oh, I almost forgot - we have a new student with us starting today" mr. McKenzie rushed to the door. "Come in" he muttered to the person to enter the classroom. Everyone's eyes were glued to the newcomer as he stepped inside and stood in front of the class. Dark hair and dark eyes, blue stonewashed and ragged jeans and a T-shirt. "He is a transfer student so be nice to him. Eveyone, this is... Um... I'm sorry, I can't read your name out, would you please introduce yourself to the class?" mr McKenzie turned to the boy with an apologetic look who just smiled and turned to the class.
"Ishihara Takamasa" he said with a wide smile letting his eyes curiously scan the people staring back at him.
"Hmm, yes. Takamasa, would you sit there, next to that brunette girl over there?" mr. McKenzie pointed to the seat next to Anika who pulled her belongings off from the vacant seat next to hers and the new boy flopped down on the seat.
"Hi..." he tried forming a greeting in a language that probably wasn't the one he was used to speaking in.
"Hello, Takamasa" Anika greeted the boy back. "I'm Anika. It's nice to meet you" she smiled
and turned her attention back to mr McKenzie who was now talking about writers of 18th century and their influence on the literature of today. Takamasa, however, wiggled on his seat, drawing weird symbols on his textbook and giggling to himself. Weird kid Anika thought as she passed a glance to the boy next to him when he again dropped his pen (around the 13th time during the class) and picked it up again just to drop it on the floor three minutes later.
As soon as the bell rang Anika rushed out of the class. She was pretty much annoyed about Takamasa's behavior during the lesson but decided not to pay it much attention. After all, it was Takamasa's education on the line, not hers. Shrugging it away she went to the cafeteria for lunch. As she sat down to eat the food she had brought along a shadow was casted over her and she looked up to find Takamasa standing there in front of the table, smiling an insecure smile.
"Ano.. Anika-san... Can I... Sit here?" the boy stuttered and looked at Anika with concern written all over his face. Anika sighed and scooted over to make room for the other. Takamasa's eyes lit up again as he sat next to Anika. "Did I upset you?" he asked causing Anika to lift her head and look at the boy. His eyes were now looking sad.
"As a matter of fact, yes, you did annoy me during the class. Did you come here to make jokes or something?" Anika blurted it all out with one breath. Takamasa's eyes were blank but he looked as if he was really thinking hard about something. With a sigh he turned to Anika again.
"Gomen. Me not understand English so good" he muttered looking down. "But I want learn speaking it. Can Anika-san help?" he asked, peering his dark eyes into Anika's green eyes as he waited for her to answer. Anika lowered her eyes for a second but looked back up again.
"So that's why you were acting like an idiot during the class - you didn't understand what mr McKenzie was saying, did you?" she asked and Takamasa nodded. "Figures. So you want me to help you with the language, right?"
"Hai! And I teach you speak Japanese, ne?" Takamasa nodded eagerly. "Anika-san, what 'idiot' meaning?" he asked with curiosity and Anika chuckled, holding her palm in front of her face so that Takamasa wouldn't be offended by her laughter that wanted to come out.
"You'll learn it later yourself" she grinned. "But for now it would be better if you didn't use that word too much in public when talking to someone."
From that day on Takamasa was almost like glued to Anika, following her around where ever she would go. One time he even waited for her in front of the girls' restroom for half an hour so that he could start ask Anika how to say 'I'm sorry, I forgot my book at home' in perfect English. It's not like he needed to know that phrase, he just liked the sound of it as he later told Anika. During the lessons he tried to listen to the teacher but ended up dropping his pencils on the floor, throwing spitballs at their classmates, sleeping during the whole lesson or just ditching the class. As for Anika, she felt like having two annoying little brothers driving her nuts. At least Takamasa's English was at least kinda better than before Anika had agreed to teach him - he could now make his sentences clearer to understand. The downside was that he had learned some phrases which were not so propriate to use and only God knows where he had picked those up. Anika's mouth dropped wide open when she heard Takamasa using these words with a fellow schoolmate of theirs and almost got into a fight for that.
"Takamasa" she started when the boy had finally talked his way out of the beating he surely would have gotten unless there hadn't been so many people around, "you wanted to know what 'idiot' means? Well, have a look in the mirror - the answer will be staring right back at you. Are you under drugs or just seriously stupid? You would have gotten killed with what you just said to those guys" she pointed to the group of boys who had who were leaving. "What the hell did you say to them anyway? I've never seen them so pissed at someone before. And more importantly, WHERE did pick up such words?!?"
At the same time Louie walked by and heard Anika's voice yelling at somebody. Turning around he saw his sister shouting at a boy but what caught his attention the most was that the boy was chuckling. So, curious as he was, he sneaked closer to find out the reason of the quarrel the two were in.
"They were funny, acting big and all" Takamasa laughed, "I say them they being funny and they get angry and want me being sorry. Then they ask who me be and I say Miyabi. They get more angry and then you coming here" the dark haired boy explained what had happened, almost stumbling behind a small rock from laughing so hard.
"What did you say? Who's this miyani-thing you spoke of?" Anika asked confused, shaking her head. The boy laughed again.
"Miyabi. That's me" he exclaimed, looking very happy with himself. Louie couldn't hold his amusement back anymore and stepped out from behind the tree also laughing both at what he had just heard and his sister's dumbfounded look when she saw him standing there.
"Anika and Miyabi sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." he laughed, holding his stomach. Anika shot him a deathglare but Louie couldn't stop laughing and neither did Takamasa who now perferred being called Miyabi.
"Idiots" she hissed at the two boys. They didn't even notice when Anika turned around on her heels and stomped off, leaving the two boys behind. It was five minutes later when they noticed that she had left. Still giggling, they shook hands.
"I'm Louis, but friends call me Louie. Anika's my older, yet dumber sister" Louie introduced himself. "I've seen you around. Are you the one my sister teaches English to?" he asked.
"Yes. She's good teacher, I speak much more English now than before I came. I'm Miyabi" the dark-haired boy nodded and smiled. "What about Anika-san?" his eyes turned to the direction where he assumed the girl had left.
"Who? Anika? She'll be fine. Hey, wanna go to the arcade and play some games?" Louie pulled Takamasa's hand, motioning the boy to follow him as they made way to the arcade to relax after a schoolday.
Anika was pissed off. Not only had Takam- sorry, Miyabi as he called himself now acted like a complete idiot, his little brother had popped out of nowhere to butt into their conversation and had made Anika look (and feel) rather dumb. To hell with both of them she cursed the boys and roughly kicked a little stone with the nose of her boot, making it land a dozen metres away. "Morons" she muttered at the thought of Takamasa/Miyabi and Louis as she walked home. Mom hadn't come home yet so Anika started making dinner. Everything went well until she tripped behind a kitchen stool and a cupful of boiling water landed on her arm. Anika rushed to the sink, letting cold water cool down the burn and cursing herself for being such a fumbler. The swelling would be there in the morning, she knew that. While still wrapping a wet towel around her arm, she finished preparing dinner just in time as mom came home.
"Something smells delicious" her mom smiled but that smile faded away when she saw Anika caressing the towel around her arm. "What happened?" she panicked, examining Anika's arm from every angle.
Anika scrunched her face from pain whem mom's hand brushed over her arm. "It's nothing, I just spilled some water on it, it'll be fine in a day or two" she assured her mother who relaxed hearing the explanation Anika was giving her.
"Where's Louie?" Anika heard her mother ask as she was changing her clothes. "He should be home by now, it's getting dark outside." As she finished her sentence, the drontdoor was pulled open and closed again with a loud bang. Speak of the devil... Anika thought as Louie marched into the living room, throwing his bookbag to the floor, letting it slide across the floor to the door of his room.
"Where did you run off to earlier?" he demanded as he saw his sister. "We were having so much fun in the arcade with Miyabi, you should have come with us."
"And see you two making even bigger fools of yourselves than you already are? I'm glad I passed. And what kind of a name is that anyway?" Anika snapped at Louie who shrugged and walked to the kitchen to get some food.
The next morning Anika was one of the first students to arrive school earlier than usual. That was actually her mother's doing as she had to leave for work later and gave Anika and Louie a lift in her car. Anika was chatting with her classmates as the door swung open and Takamasa entered the class. Well, it did look like Takamasa, but Anika wasn't completely sure either. He was wearing tight filmy pants and a long-sleeved shirt that left half of his stomach uncovered and on top of that was a colorful stripy jacket with chains hanging from both the pants and the jacket. Everything about the boy she had seen yesterday had changed - it was almost like Takamasa but not quite. Everything about the boy Anika saw now was 180 degrees different, not to mention his hair which was now blue, green, pink, red, black and even some parts of it were yellow and all that at the same time. He sat on his seat next to Anika and smiled to her. Seeing Anika not reacting to his greeting, he waved his hands in front of her face and that broke the gaze. Anika closed her mouth abruptly and turned away from Takamasa who seemed confused by her reaction. However, when he wanted to ask Anika about it, the class started and the teacher walked in with the bell. He wiggled on his seat the whole lesson, secretly peeking Anika, trying to guess the reason for her being so inactive that morning. When the bell rang for recess, he grabbed Anika's hand as he saw she would run off again. Anika turned around and Takamasa almost got scared because of the raging flame burning deep in her green eyes. Yeah, it's impossible to have a green flame, but that's what Takamasa saw.
"What?" Anika snapped at him pulling her hand away and gently rubbing it. Takamasa saw her face scrunching in pain and pulled het jacket off. He gasped at the sight of burned skin and broken blistes still showing from under the bandages Anika had wrapped around her arm.
"Gomen, I didn't want hurting you" he muttered. "What happen to you yesterday? You run away leaving us worry. Did somebody hurt you, Anika-san?" he asked with worry in his eyes. Anika just snorted, causing him to look up again.
"I could ask you the same thing - what happened to you? You look like you got dipped into several cans of paint, head first. And I'm not even talking about your little outfit for today" Anika continued speaking fastly. Takamasa's eyes grew wide as he heard the speed Anika was speaking with. As much as he tried, he missed half of the sentences and whatever Anika was telling him remained unclear. "...Why am I even speaking with you?" Anika asked and turned to leave. It took a couple of seconds for Takamasa to react and he ran after Anika to the corridor.
"Anika-san... You are very angry at me. Why?" he asked as he caught up with the girl and tried to catch her attention again. Apparently it worked because she stopped and turned around to face him.
"Are you always this obnoxious?!?" she yelled causing Takamasa to take a step back. "Stupid question - of course you are! Why are you always following me like a lost puppy? You don't need me to teach you any more language either as I've seen that you're a fast learner so just buzz off already, Miyabi or whatever you call yourself now!" she finished her yelling and began walking away again. This time Takamasa didn't even try to follow her - the shock from her yelling at him like that had immobilized him. But his mind was still working - she still hadn't told him the reason for being so grumpy. All he could do now is to give her time to sort out whatever she was feeling grumpy about and let her be.
As days passed, Anika felt more at peace without Takamasa talking nonsense and asking stupid things from her. Sure, she could see her every single schoolday, though, but he hadn't come even near her. He was usually spending his time goofing off, skipping classes or smoking with other boys behind a little flowershop near the school. Anika wondered how he hadn't been erased from the school records. Takamasa had gotten a few piercings on his ears and his right eyebrow too, making him look more rebellious than he already was. Anika just shook her head at that and continued ignoring her deskmate whenever he decided to show up for the class.
"As you know school ends soon" mr. McKenzie started one day, "and you'll be having your graduation exams... Why all the commotion?" he asked when everyone in the class groaned. "Anyway, later today I'll give you all copies of the things you need to learn if you want to pass the exam. Now let's turn to page 253 where we left off the last time."
All Anika could do was to curse everthing around her a she walked home after school. She knew there would be exams but she didn't expect there to be so many materials she would have to go through if she wanted to pass them with good grades. Sighing, she entered the front door of their house and tossed her backpack with all the books and material to the couch. Stupid brat she thought as she saw chocolate wrappings lying on the floor surely left there by Louie. Mira wagged her tail at Anika who felt better after petting the dog's back. "Hey cutie" she muttered and buried her face in Mira's soft fur. Mira had been with them ever since Anika was four years old. One day she had just crawled to their doorstep as a puppy and they had no heart to leave her out there. Sudden banging of the door woke Anika from remembrancing the past memories and she felt sad for a second, looking back to all those memories the had as a family. Even Louie, the kid from hell, was still family and even though he found some sick pleasure in torturing Anika (and vice versa), she still cared a lot about that little devil.
"Give me food, I'm hungry!" Louie yelled from the hallway. Or in reality - maybe not that much...
"Get your own food, I'm not your servant!" Anika yelled back, supressing the sudden urge to strangle her brother to stop his shouting already when Louie stomped into the kitchen demanding Anika to peel grapes and make ham sandwitches for him. "Dream on, loser" she hissed at Louie and went to her room, locking the door behind her. She scanned through her CD collection and after finding nothing she'd like to listen to at the moment, she hurled on her bed and stared at the ceilingabove her. Minutes ticked away. It could have been hours even because Anika didn't even once have a look at the clock on her nightstand. As she heard noises coming from outside her room, she sighed and got up, leaving the room.
"Hey mom" she greeted her mother as she passed her in the hallway on her way to the living room to turn on the TV and flip the channels to see if there was anything decent to watch. She wasn't even suprised finding nothing and tossed the remote to Louie who cheered as he found some sports channel and started watching two sweaty men wrestling. Yuck was the only thing Anika could think of as she saw the sight and turned to go back to her room. "No, too pressing" she sighed and taking a hoodie with her, she left her room again. "I'm going out for couple of hours" she verbally answered her mother's silent questioning look. There was no actual need for her to bring the hoodie with herself since it was almost summer, but she liked the clothing. She wondered on the streets aimlessly, not having a real destination of where to go as she randomly passed a house where a party was held in. Not wanting to hear the people slurring random things in their drunk state, Anika quickened her pace to get away from all of that but a familiar voice made her stop.
"Anika! I thought I recognized you" Annabel's voice chirped behind Anika and she turned around forcing a smile on her lips. Annabel was one of the 'really popular' girls at school. She was nice, but sometimes if she was either really drunk or furious at something or someone, plates would start flying. Figuratively speaking, of course, but Anika still had her doubts about what would happen if Annabel WOULD have plates nearby if she got furious.
"Hey, Annabel" she tried to make her smile look sincere. "You're having a party I see" she looked around to see some guys staring at her and Annabel and waving with beerbottles atthem. At the same second some drunk guy stumbled out of the house and fell into the kiddie pool placed in the garden. The two guys with beer laughed at the third and pointed fingers at him. Not something what I really wanted to see Anika thought as she turned her attention back to Annabel who had started talking with her again.
"Yeah. We're just trying to ease the stress from the exams" Annabel explained as she also peeked at the three boys at the kiddie pool. "Get him out of there already!" she yelled to them and turned to Anika again with a smile. "Why don't you come in as you are already here?" she pulled Anika's hand as they walked inside the house. 'Crowded' was a small word to describe the situation Anika's eyes witnessed as she stepped inside the room what might have been a living room before - everything was rather messy and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes being smoked wasn't actually a pleasant combination. Annabel shoved a bottle in Anika's hand and they went outside again. The cool night air felt good. Even though Anika had drank alcohol before the drink in her hand didn't seem to go down well. Annabel giggled and pulled out a pack of cigarattes and lit one. "You want one too?" she offered the pack to Anika but she refused the offer.
"No thanks, I'll be fine without" Anika smiled and took another sip of her drink, letting the liquid burn her throat as it passed it to get to the stomach. It really didn't feel like doing something special. It was Anika's fifth drink when she started feeling awfully sick. Annabel had left inside the house and Anika was alone. Her insides were tumbling and she could taste the alcohol in her throat, trying to find a way back out of her system. Feeling the need to vomit Anika stumbled to the back part of the garden tso that people wouldn't see her in the state she was in. Lapsing onto the ground she let the alcohol come out from inside her body. A pair of hands grabbed her hair and patted her back, causing Anika to flinch and try to see the person trying to help her.
"Anika-san, what you doing here? You not drinking usually" Takamasa continued to hold Anika so that she wouldn't collapse. His voice sounded dripping from concern. "I take you home" he stated and gently pulled Anika up from the ground. As he continued to balance her as they walked away from Annabel's party, Anika lifted her weiry head noticing they were not even close to her house. Instead Takamasa took her to the park. Anika tried to protest but Takamasa wouldn't release his grip on her. "You crazy thinking I let you home like that. You being too much drunk, I let you feel not so bad if you going back home" he explained. All Anika could do was try not to throw up again so she decided to stay quiet. It's not she wanted to show up home in her state either. Takamasa motioned to a bench and they sat there. He observed Anika's status and the worry in his eyes was far from leaving. "Why you drink there? Are you being sad?" he asked, making Anika look up. She sighed and looked into the dark night sky.
"Takamasa, you're worse than my brother. I tell you to leave me alone but you still hang around me and now this. I never asked you to help here tonight either. What is it that you want from me? Why are you so friendly to me always, even if I say these things to you?" she asked the boy sitting next to him without lowering her eyes from the sky. The stars were shining brightly and it was even fullmoon. Takamasa stayed silent at first but when Anika wasn't even expecting him to answer, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Anika-san, you my first friend when I came here. You really good human and me like you. You teach me English too. I never think you being like others, you different. I see you sad and wanting to help you feeling better. That's friends for, ne?"
When Takamasa finished talking Anika stayed silent, digesting what he had just told her. It did make sense, but of all the people, why was it that he chose her to be his friend? As much as she tried, she wouldn't understand why. But there they were, sitting on a park bench and staring at the stars above their heads.
"Takamasa... I'm sorry" Anika sighed and locked her eyes on the boy. "I didn't want to act this nasty to you. I didn't even bother to notice you wanting to be friends with me. I just saw you as a nuisence making my life even more bothersome than it already was. I'm so sorry" she ended and a tear escaping from her eyes. The next second she could feel Takamasa embracing her and humming something in Japanese into her ear what Anika assumed was to relax her and prevent her from crying. And it worked as she gulped and looked back up at Takamasa's face. "What you just said... What did it mean?"
Seeing Anika wouldn't cry Takamasa smiled. "I sing for you so you not cry. I not want seeing you cry at all."
Anika smiled hearing those words and did something she thought she'd never do to anyone - she snuggled up to the boy and closing her eyes whispered a thank you. They stayed like that for some time until Takamasa decided Anika was sober enough to take her home. As they reached Anika's doorstep and Takamasa turned to leave Anika grabbed his hand, pulling him back. Giving a smile she didn't pay attention to Takamasa's questioning look.
"How do you say 'thank you' in Japanese?" she asked him. Takamasa grinned at the question.
"Doomo" he replied and tried not to laugh.
"In that case, doomo, Takamasa" she smiled and pulled him into a hug before she went inside the house. "See you tomorrow" she waved as Takamasa, who seeing that Anika would be fine from now on, turned to leave. It was late enough for everyone to be sleeping so Anika had no problem tiptoeing to her room and crashing on her bed, falling asleep the next minute.
That was the fifth time Anika yawned in chemistry lesson the next day. Takamasa hadn't shown up and even though he would always annoy Anika in a thousand ways with his sillyness, she kinda missed the boy sitting next to him and scetching several drawings on his textbooks. The door of the classroom flew open and Takamasa rushed in. Giving the teacher an apology for arriving late he plopped down onto his seat next to Anika who was giving him a questioning look. Takamasa's appearance was rather messy with his some of his clothes wrinkled and his hair uncombed. He was also panting, probably from running, Anika assumed. What had happened to him after he walked Anika home last night? Anika couldn't help but to be curious, seeing him trying to catch his breath. But as much as she wanted to ask about it from him, she stayed silent and decided to wait until recess which wasn't that far away.
"You look like you were chased by a tiger, what happened?" she demanded as they left the classroom after the bell rang. Takamasa gave a faint smile and tried looking casual when he kept walking and desperatly was looking for a way to change the subject.
"No, slept in, that's all" he assured Anika with a pat on her shoulder. "How you today? Still feel bad? You really must not drinking like that, that not good for you."
"I'm just fine, thanks for the concern. You know you're a lousy liar, Takamasa? But OK, I won't push it, I'm sure you have your reasons. Now let's get some lunch, I'm starving" Anika gave a half-smile and they walked towards the cafeteria. They got their lunch and chatted casually but there was an invisible wall between them which they both knew was there and they sensed it but avoided bringing it up in their conversation. It was the end of the schoolday when Takamasa approached Anika.
"Anika-san... I need telling you something. You come to park with me, please?" he asked Anika, looking down and avoiding Anika's eyes.
"Yes, alright. Let's go" Anika accepted the request and they began walking towards the park like they had last night but this time they were both sober. The kids were happily shouting on the playground, running around and swinging. Anika sat on one of the vacant swings and without asking Takamasa started pushing the swing. "So what did you want to tell me?" Anika tried sounding casual, but her friend's behavior was everything but casual today. He still stayed quiet as if trying to find the right words to say to her.
"Anika-san... I go back to Japan after week" he finally answered Anika's question with a sad tone. She looked at him in disbelief at first but remembered that he was just a transfer student and eventually he would have left anyway, wether he had met and befriended Anika or not. Sudden sadness clouded over her as she digested his silent words.
"What day?" she managed to ask with a calm voice that suprised ever herself. After hearing the answer she calculated the time she had left spending with him. "Hmm, OK. Thanks for sharing at least. I at least hope you liked being here for a year" she smiled. "Want to go and get ice cream? I'm sure they've got strawberry." Anika was now the one desperatly trying to change the subject. To her relief Takamasa agreed and they began walking to the ice cream shop but the cloud of unexplained sadness hovering above Anika would not stay behind and followed them where ever they went.
The dreaded day came faster than the speed of light and Anika had to say good-bye to Takamasa who would be flying home and reunite with his family which he hadn't seen even once during the last year. He was dragging his suitcases behind him as they entered the airport and searched for the gate where Takamasa's flight would leave. Anika felt bitter and uneasy but happy about tkamasa at the same time. She was sure he had missed his parents like they probably missed him.
"Take care" she whispered as she hugged Takamasa goodbye. She didn't know why her eyes felt so heavy the next second and wiped them. That's when she felt something wet on her hand. Looking at her hand she knew what the liquid was and bit her tongue hard.
"Don't cry, Anika-san" Takamasa tried making his voice sound more secure but it didn't seem to be enough and it sounded more like a whimper. "I write to you, I promise. You my best friend, I missing you very much when getting home. I write to you every day. And you come see me too" he hugged Anika as if he didn't want to let go of her. The sound of his flight being called out made them break apart and Takamasa picked up his suitcases and slowly began walking to the gate and almost tripping over his own feel several times as he kept looking back at Anika and waving to her.
Anika sat in the living room, flipping channels on the TV but nothing good was on. Just before she decided to turn the TV off he saw someone familiar on the screen. As she turned up the volume she could hear the host speaking about the breakup of Dué Le Quartz, the band Takamasa had been playing in and him going solo from now on. He had changed his name again, too - Miyabi had become Miyavi. He had kept his promise to write to Anika and almost every week she found his letter in the mail, telling how he was doing and all the cities and places he saw when touring with the band and even now, as he was a soloist, he still kept writing to her. The usual line that could be found in every letter was a suggestion for Anika to pay him a visit even if it was really buzy for him as he started a career as a soloist. His first tour was already almost sold out everywhere. Anika smiled at the memories she had with that man when both of them were younger, how they'd hang out after school and how Takamasa always made her laugh or at least smile when she was sad. The couch creaked as Anika got up and moved to her laptop to check her virtual mailbox. She found nothing but a few work-mails telling her about her assignements for the following week and a note that if she finished early she would have the rest off the week free from work. There were also some junkmail offering 'the newest ways to gain riches without doing a thing' as it showed the topic of the mail but Anika deleted them without even a second thought. With a sigh she started the preparations for the work due to be done next week.
"Thank you, you did great and I do believe everyone will be happy with your ideas. So, as I promised, you have the rest of the week off - do as you please with the time" Anika's supervitor nodded and smiled to her. But Anika had something else in mind.
"Mr. Hodges, can I have a week off after this one, too?"
It was the tour's final show and the place was packed as Anika tried to make her way to her spot. Soon after the lights were dimmed and euphoric screams surrounded Anika as they bounced off the walls when a figure walked onto the stage.
Everything came to the end too fast but Anika had enjoyed it. Now there was just one thing to do... The most important one as it seemed to her as she crossed the sidewalk and headed for the back of the concerthall. Her thoughts proved to be correct as she spotted him walking to the tourbus. She opened her mouth just to close it again when she saw some guy catching up with him and started talking about the release of his new album. A smile crossed her lips as she saw him doing a weird dance and mimicing the manager's gestures who apparently had a short temper as he yelled something and rushed off looking rather angry. As for him, he just giggled at his actions. That's when Anika stepped closer and opened her mouth.
"Still as obnoxious as ever, you haven't changed a bit" she smiled and the person who she was talking to jumped two feet in the air from the sudden sound of her voice. Quickly he turned around to inspect the person who startled him. A wide grin stretched on his face as he rushed foward and embraced Anika who was giggling at the sudden affection pointed to her.
"Anika-san, you came" he squealed and pulled her even closer to make sure she was really there and not just a figment of him imagination. "I not expecting to see you" he admitted, sounding almost woefully but incredibly happy at the same time.
"Every letter you sent, each and every single one of them asked me to be here. How could I say no? You did great today and I wouldn't have missed this in the world, Miyavi-san" Anika simply replied as she stroked his cheek. Along the way of his life back in his enviroment he had remained the same but had also changed a lot on the way. The tip of his lipring poked Anika as he leaned down to give a kiss on the top of her head.
"Ne, not Miyavi. To you I always be Takamasa."
